The Woes of Rose
by Time-Lady-Rose
Summary: "What's bugging you?" "How do you know something's bugging me?" she countered, and the man shrugged. "I'm just good with people. Plus, you didn't deny it, so I assume there /is/ something bugging you." Years after "Journey's End", Rose Tyler is sitting on the beach at Bad Wolf Bay, thinking about the past. A familiar stranger comes to comfort her, and she tells him her story.


Rose Tyler sat on the sands of Bad Wolf Bay, staring out at the horizon as the waves washed up to the shore, wetting her feet and pants. Her blonde hair was whipped across her face as the beach winds blew through them, but she paid no mind. Tears stung in her eyes as she remembered the events that happened on this beach oh so long ago, when she saw the man she loved for the last time in her life. Well, not exactly last, but the Year of 27 Planets didn't count too much in her book. She had promised that man forever...but she never gave it to him; she never had a chance. She was ripped from his life the first time, and left behind by him the second time. That man, that insane man thought she wanted to grow old with him, nothing more. Even with a duplicate of him living and growing old with her, Rose never felt the same love for his duplicate that she did for him. John was him...but it wasn't the same. He would never be the Doctor.

"Are you alright?"

Rose tore her gaze away from the horizon to a man standing next to her, staring down at her with a worried expression. He was tall, with short ginger hair that reminded her of the movie star Rupert Grint's. He had jeans on with a blue button-down shirt, and a jacket that looked similar to the one the Doctor constantly wore. Rose felt her heart ache at the sight of it.

"Fine, yeah." she replied, expecting the stranger to just shrug and leave. However, he didn't, and stood there.

"Mind if I sit?"

Rose shook her head, and the man sat. He looked at the horizon with her for a moment, the sunlight reflecting off of his deep brown eyes, then back at her. "What's bugging you?"

"How do you know something's bugging me?" she countered, and the man shrugged.

"I'm just good with people. Plus, you didn't deny it, so I assume there /is/ something bugging you."

"You're good."

The two chuckled, and Rose shrugged. "It's just a hard day for me to remember is all."

The man frowned, his hair getting in his eyes a bit. "What happened?"

"It's a long story..."

"I've got plenty of time."

Rose looked down at her feet, blinking back the new wave of tears threatening to overflow. "There was a man I met a long time ago. So long ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday."

The man smirked. "Always a man, isn't it? Was he a dashing young fellow? Make a good first impression?"

Rose swatted the man's arm, smiling a bit. "Oi, watch it. And if you count being attacked, grabbing my hand, and telling me to run a good first impression, then it was the best ever."

The man grinned at her as if he were remembering the same memory, which struck Rose as odd. Did this man know something? "Anyway, I traveled with him for a year or two, and we saw the most incredible things, things you couldn't possibly imagine. Granted, a lot were life-or-death things, like the Daleks..." Both Rose and the man cringed at the name. "But they were still amazing adventures. On Gamestation 5 though, we were attacked. Me, him, and our friend Jack prepared for war. But he sent me back home, when the Daleks were going to kill him. I didn't listen and returned...and it ended up costing his life."

At this point, Rose had a distant look in her eyes, caught up in her memories and telling this stranger everything. Why was she? She barely knew the man for ten minutes, but the trust she felt for him was overwhelming. She felt as if she could tell him anything.

The man closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok. I didn't lose him though. See, he wasn't-isn't-exactly human. He's a Time Lord...they regenerate. It's a way of cheating death for them. So he regenerated, and we traveled again. A year or so later, we ended up at Torchwood, and a Void Ship was holding Daleks and Cybermen alike inside it. Countless were killed, but he got rid of the Daleks and Cybermen in the end. We both did. However, I ended up in this parallel world instead of my universe." Rose looked up at the man to see if he was confused, but he looked as if he understood perfectly. Rose nodded and continued. "We didn't even get to finish our goodbyes before he was taken for good. So I joined the very thing that tore us apart, and Torchwood helped build a dimension cannon for me to get back to my universe. I met his companion at the time and had her send him a message from me...two words: Bad Wolf. Donna was confused, but I knew he wouldn't be." At the mention of Donna's name, a pained look washed over the man's face, confusing Rose. She continued though, pretending that she didn't notice. "The world was almost destroyed by the Daleks-surprise surprise-but Donna and his duplicate destroyed them all, saving the world. And then he dropped me off here, instead of taking me with him, saying that I needed to help the duplicate heal like I did with him..." Rose wiped some tears from her eyes, and the man gave her a tissue. She took it gladly and dabbed her eyes, trying to keep more tears from flowing. Taking a shaky breath, Rose looked up at the sky.

"...that was a century ago...John and I eventually married and had children, but we both noticed that while he aged, I didn't. He was fifty and looking it, while I was forty-five and looked twenty. People thought he was my dad." The man tensed next to her, and unconsciously grabbed her hand, squeezing it. Rose was thankful for the small sign of support. "We made a story up, saying I went on a trip and died in a car crash. Rose Tyler-Smith died one hundred and thirty years ago. I made up a new name, staying in my children's lives by becoming their nanny. I changed names ten times to stay with my family, but they all grew up and died, moving on without me." She didn't care anymore, and let her tears flow steadily. The man squeezed her hand again, and Rose leaned into him, feeling comforted as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Do you know why?" he asked quietly, calmly, something she did not expect. If anything, she expected the man to freak out over talking to a one hundred and fifty-two year old woman who looked no older than twenty-two. Rose shook her head.

"No idea...though I suspect the Time Vortex may have changed my genetic make-up. If anything, I'm half-human, half-Time Lord. At least, that's what I tell myself. Like, for the past week or so my telepathic field has felt a small nudging in my consciousness." She shrugged. "But it remains the same: I'm not aging physically, but mentally, I change everyday." Rose laughed humorlessly. "So this is how the Doctor felt with his companions, isn't it? He tried not to get close to us, that's for sure, so he wouldn't have to feel the pain of loss when we left. And they all leave eventually, whether by choice or otherwise. No wonder why he didn't do domestics. I was a fool to think he'd love me..."

"You're wrong." the man said abruptly, and Rose looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. While the rest of him looked young, his eyes were old, like he'd seen the world end and begin. Perhaps he had.

"How do you know?" she whispered.

"The Doctor would be a fool not to love you, Rose Tyler. And let me assure you, he's anything but a fool. And on the matter of companions...he was afraid of getting close, yes, but he couldn't stop himself from getting close to them. Pain or not, each person was special to him. Especially his pink and yellow human."

A small gasp came from Rose as she started piecing who this man was together, but he continued talking. "The Doctor loved that human so very much, but never admitted it. He was afraid, afraid of the domestics, afraid of the commitment, afraid of everything. Especially of losing you. And on Canary Wharf, he cried. His goodbye was never finished. He couldn't tell you he loved you, since the connection was cut. And when he left you here with his metacrisis, it was the hardest thing he had ever done, but he wanted you to have a normal life. So no, Rose Tyler, you weren't a fool to think the Doctor would love you, because he did, so very much. He loved you enough to travel from one universe to another to find his Rose, and finish his goodbye, even though it meant turning it into a hello." The man gave her a dazzling grin, and Rose returned it, unable to believe what was happening. "Besides," the man added with a wink. "I had to show off my gingerness to someone, right?"


End file.
